Volume 6: Helping the World Chapter 197: If you don’t make money, you are not a wolf
This area of the southern part of downtown Valentine hasn't changed much from two years ago.
At least that's how it was for the Myers family.
Mr. Miles - only a few people know how to call him by this honorific title, most people just casually call him Old Miles - owns a barely passable street-side family hotel. He is the owner, cleaner, security guard and cook, while his wife is in charge of room service, laundry and kitchen help.
This kind of family hotel in the poorest and most chaotic area of the downtown area basically cannot make much money. Even the most stingy southern merchants would not be willing to stay in his cheap hotel. After all, no one wants to find a few vehicles missing from their caravan the next day, or to have someone break in through the window and steal one or two clothes or even a purse when they are sleeping in the middle of the night.
As for those northern merchants who are more willing to spend money and adventurers who are famous for their lavish spending, they will definitely not come. There is neither fine wine nor women that can attract them in the South City. The environment is very different from that in the Central City, and it is even inferior to the other three areas in the Lower City.
In summary, the largest number of guests received by Mr. Miles' hotel are actually the same customers recruited by the wandering nightingales on the streets - to be precise, the six rooms in his house are basically booked by the nightingales who live in groups to protect themselves. When the nightingales receive guests, it is also the time for Mr. Miles to do business.
This situation started two years ago.
More than one hundred thugs of the Thieves Brotherhood who often roamed the streets were first stripped naked and lying on the street, and then they were captured by the newly appointed city lord to repair the road; the brothels owned by the brotherhood in various parts of the south city were unknowingly divided up, and the women who were originally controlled by the brotherhood also gained their freedom.
An inn like Mr. Miles's, which is close to the street and cheap, is naturally a popular overnight place.
The time between noon and 4 p.m. is the quietest time for family hotels. The guests who stayed overnight have already checked out and left, and most of the nightingales are not ready to go out to solicit customers.
Mr. Miles moved a chair and sat at the door of his hotel, smoking his pipe and glancing sideways at the crowded new houses across the street.
"It's really rare that so many new houses can suddenly appear in the South City. Look at those thick and good woods. A family can't afford to buy them without spending dozens of silver coins."
The old owner of the grocery store next door also brought out a stool to smoke. Following Miles' gaze, the angry old owner said sourly, "Those country bumpkins are really lucky. But I still say that this kind of thing will not last long. What good can it be to associate with orcs? Who knows, one day they will go out to sea and never come back."
Mr. Miles smiled good-naturedly. He knew why his old neighbor was so resentful... Two years ago, when the orcs were recruiting workers, the old shop owner's son also wanted to sign up, but was suppressed by the old shop owner. The old man, who wanted to play it safe, did not want his son to take risks. He wanted to see more whether the dock laborers could make money from the orcs and bring the money back.
Last year, when the dock coolies returned with money and celebrated and built new houses, the old shop owner's son gave his father a lot of cold looks. It was not until they were all arrested by the city police that the old shop owner recovered and accused his son of being ignorant of the world and short-sighted.
No one expected that those dock coolies were only locked up for half a winter and then released. Not only were they all still alive and kicking, but the city police chief even compensated those country folk (actually it was Lamia who paid the compensation)... This really shocked the entire downtown area.
This year, the same group of people returned from overseas with money in high spirits. They were eager to buy wood and build houses. Within a few days, dozens of new houses with the fragrance of wood appeared in the stinky shantytown.
The old shop owner's son approached him with envy and started a conversation, finding out that others could work eight months a year and still receive ten months' salary, as well as various bonuses and subsidies, and that those who did an especially good job would come back with gold coins... So he went home and lay there ever since, and has refused to say a word to the old shop owner.
Listening to the old shop owner's nagging, Mr. Miles took a slow puff of cigarette, and couldn't help but think of his wife's complaints last night...
Mary, who was lying at home waiting to die, can now come back to spend the winter in good health with dozens of silver coins in her pocket. She not only built a new house for her family, but also made the poor family fat and prosperous. Not to mention Shelda and Maggie, mother and daughter, who were originally controlled by the Thieves Brotherhood, it is said that they have saved up several gold coins in just two years (those who do not come back to spend the winter receive additional winter subsidies).
The wife who did not sign up at the beginning was extremely envious and complained to Miles that he should not have kept her at home as a laundry woman and missed the opportunity to make money. This made Miles speechless - at that time, the wife had nothing good to say about Mary, who was as thin as a bag of bones, and the unfortunate Shelda and her daughter, and even laughed at them for losing their lives outside.
"Even if I am willing to hire a laundry worker and let her work with Shelda and her daughter, what's the point? They don't necessarily need anyone right now... There are not so many good things in the world waiting to be shared." Mr. Miles thought to himself as he chatted with his old neighbor.
Workers in the "MSG Factory" and "Wool Textile Factory" could earn a basic salary of five silver coins per month, and one silver coin for every additional year of work, plus various bonuses. Such income was rare even in the central city, let alone the downtown area - the most diligent and hardworking washerwomen could only earn two or three silver coins a month.
This workplace provided by the company to nightingales only earned a few dozen copper coins a day. If one could earn one silver coin (fifty copper coins), it was considered good luck that day... There were also various expenses to pay, and 30% of the income had to be paid to the city police.
As they were chatting, a few former dock laborers, who were privately called "countryside peasants" by the old shop owner, came over here talking and laughing, and their destination was the old neighbor's grocery store.
The old shop owner quickly put on a warm smile and stood up to greet him: "Isn't this Sam? What do you need to buy?"
Sam, who didn't seem to have any outstanding performance when he was a dock worker, was said to be appreciated by the orcs after he went to the "MSG factory" and became some kind of worker representative, vaguely becoming the core of the crowd. Anyway, those who made a name for themselves with them listened to him. Although the old store owner criticized him in private, he did not dare to ignore Sam in public.
Sam came with his little daughter in his arms. The dirty little kid was now wearing a set of thick, clean new clothes. The good material was not something that a poor guy in the downtown area could wear. The old shop owner just glanced at her and felt hot in his heart, half jealous and half complaining - if his son saw it, he would complain about his grandson not having a single good piece of clothing yet.
Sam smiled and nodded to the old shopkeeper, then put his daughter on the ground and said, "Go in and choose, honey. Daddy will buy you anything you like. It can't cost more than one silver coin!"
"Dad is the best!" The little girl cheered and rushed into the store, scanning the shelves with shining eyes.
Miles, who was sitting next to him smoking, secretly glanced at the old owner... Although he still had a smile on his face, his expression was indeed not very good.
"It seems that the old neighbors would be stimulated by the fact that a country bumpkin can spend money so generously on his little daughter." Miles blew out a smoke ring and thought slowly... People in South City, even those of them who are local Valentines and live on the street, all have children wearing old clothes that have been patched up and modified.
"The world has changed!" Miles sighed in his heart.
Sam and a few MSG factory workers were standing at the door of the grocery store and chatting happily. When they noticed that the Miles's family hotel was empty in broad daylight, Sam's heart moved and he moved over here, looking at the spacious facade of the hotel more carefully.
"Good day, Sam." Mr. Miles greeted him with a smile out of politeness.
"Good day, old Miles. Sorry to say, I just discovered your store is really good." Sam smiled and replied, naturally pulling the bench where the old owner had just sat and sitting opposite Miles. "Your hotel is the only one on this stretch of road, and it's so clean and beautiful. You must be doing very good business."
Mrs. Miles liked to complain, but she was indeed very diligent. Even if the drunkards brought back by the Nightingales vomited all over the store, she would always clean it up spotlessly the next morning .
"Just trying to get by." Mr. Miles nodded with a smile.
After exchanging a few polite words, Miles began to feel somewhat puzzled… Sam’s family had moved to Valentine for more than ten years, and he had watched Sam grow up. Was Sam so generous and magnanimous before? Although it was just a polite greeting, it made him feel that Sam was like those distinguished gentlemen he had met.
After asking about the business of the Miles family's hotel, Sam had an idea in mind. He smiled and said, "I want to discuss something with you, old Miles. If it is convenient, we would like to rent the storefront of your hotel. We will only rent it from noon to afternoon. We will pack up and leave before dusk and before guests come to the door. We hope to not disturb your guests. For the daily rent, we hope to pay one silver coin. What do you think?"
Miles was stunned for a moment, thinking he was hallucinating, and couldn't help but ask, "What did you say?"
"It's like this. Our employer, the Grassland Tribe, is renting storefronts in various places in the city. It's best to have a clean and fresh store like yours that faces the street." Sam explained with a smile, "Because we sell quite cheap daily necessities, the profit is not high, and we only do business during the day. If we can rent it only during the day, it would be the best. Of course, you can rest assured that the Grassland Tribe also attaches great importance to cleanliness and hygiene, and will never make a mess of your storefront."
Miles' eyes subconsciously fell on Sam's hands... These were a pair of standard laborer's hands, with thick joints and thick calluses, but the nails were trimmed very short and there was indeed no mud in the nail crevices.
Not only his nails, but other parts of Sam's body were also clean and fresh - his hair was cut into a short flat top, with no dandruff or grease in the stubble; he was wearing a cleanly washed white cotton turtleneck pullover inside and a thick linen jacket outside. There was no stain on his trousers, and even the trouser legs were clean and fresh, without any mud spots or anything like that.
Miles was a little dazed. If the material of Sam's clothes was not indeed ordinary, he would have suspected that this was not the downtown resident who he had seen grow from a teenager to a young man, but that he mistook him for the butler or deacon of some wealthy family.
After calming down, Mr. Miles put down his pipe, sat up straight, and asked seriously: "When is the rent of one silver coin per day paid?"
"Of course, after signing the contract, you can rent and pay on the same day." Sam said with a smile.
Sam was very happy to find a suitable storefront for the Fire Department after he found some time to spend with his daughter. He sent his daughter home and took his co-workers to contact the person in charge of the female workers. They exchanged their storefronts with each other to avoid multiple visits and causing someone to drive up the rent. The worker representatives from both factories went to report to the Grassroots Chief.
Before opening a business, you must first conduct a market survey, and when arranging retail outlets, you need to make arrangements based on market demand. This is what Xiao Yun reminded, and the Grassroots Chief is undoubtedly a very good student. After marking the storefronts that the worker representatives had discussed on the map, the Grassroots Chief made the final decision: "There are many people engaged in low-end, physically intensive labor in Xicheng District. Their purchasing needs tend to be cheap, convenient and fast. We should prepare a large amount of hot bone soup that can be eaten with food. When opening the store, we can also ask nearby food vendors to move closer to us to facilitate customers to buy."
"South City has many residents, so we need to increase the supply of pork strips weighing two taels."
"There are many merchants and craftsmen in the North City and West City, so rabbit meat, which has relatively less fat, should be sold in stores in these two areas as much as possible."
"Okay, now let's assign people! Anyone who is interested in being in charge of a store in a certain area can sign up!"
Edward, the oldest of the knight brothers, was known to be a good person. He immediately raised his hand and said, "Grassroots Patriarch, my brother Wayne and I will be in charge of the South City store. We were street kids in the slums, so we are more familiar with this poor and chaotic area."
The knight brothers were originally members of Hannah's group. Isaac was encouraged and supported by Xiao Yun and was ready to take a different path from the traditional adventurers. Although Hannah was not optimistic about this little brother, she was willing to support him, so she readjusted the members of the two adventurer teams - the knight brothers and other people with "lofty ideals" were transferred to Isaac's group, and the dwarf Arnold in Isaac's group and some people who were not suitable for too complicated careers were transferred to Hannah's group.
The Knights responded first, and the others followed suit. In a few minutes, they arranged the personnel in charge of each place, sent people to survey the store address, signed contracts with the owners, prepared the necessary materials, etc.
One day later.
Mr. and Mrs. Myers woke up early in the morning and cleaned the storefront vigorously, even washing the floor several times with water, eagerly waiting for the "money sponsor" to come.
After nine o'clock in the morning, a group of people came from the other end of the street...
"I'm sorry to bother you for a while starting today, Old Miles, Mrs. Miles." Sam was the first to enter the store and shook hands with the owner and his wife. He stepped aside to introduce the people who came with him. "This is Knight Edward, this is Edward's brother, Knight Wayne, this is Ms. Snowflake from the Snow Wolf Clan, and this is Mr. Harris from the Snake Clan. These four are responsible for the operation of our five stores in South City. If there is any trouble, these people will come to deal with it."
The Knight Brothers looked good, and Mr. and Mrs. Miles nervously but enthusiastically called them "Master". When they introduced Ms. Snowflake (Lan Guo's partner) of the Snow Wolf Clan... the shop owner and his wife were a little stunned; when Harris walked up to them and greeted them with a smile, Mrs. Miles pursed her lips tightly to control herself from screaming.
Snowflake is extremely sensitive to numbers and has a great talent for arithmetic. She has been the chief accountant of the Fire Department for a long time (she failed the literacy class and was biased in the subject). This time, the grassroots chief led the trade team to "expedite" Valentine, and naturally he had to bring this pillar of stability with him.
Harris is, after all, a well-known ranger in the Bards Guild, so a chaotic area like South City naturally needs him to shake things up.
After the four South City leaders greeted the Miles couple in a friendly manner, they left one group behind and took the large team to continue to the next house.
Sam also stayed and asked people to move the tables, chairs and counters away, set up the butcher block, and light the fire and set up the pot.
The bone soup that had been stewed the night before was boiled, and the two-liang pork strips, each as wide as a finger, were neatly stacked on the clean butcher block, and the South City No. 1 store was officially opened.
"A piece of pork costs five copper coins, and three tablespoons of broth costs one copper coin! You can buy two ounces of minced meat for only four copper coins!"
It is not possible to cut all the meat from a whole pig into strips for sale, so the miscellaneous parts can be chopped into minced meat and sold at a lower price.
When Sam stood on the street and shouted, the first people to come were the workers and their families from the MSG factory and the woolen mill - the workers ate in the canteen on the prairie, which they could never get in Valentine's side. After only a few days back, the food had become tasteless in their mouths, and they had been waiting for the butcher shop to open.
The workers' families came to the door in a lively manner, and those who lived closer to the street and had some spare money also gathered around curiously... Well, there were a lot of onlookers, but not many who actually paid for the products. Who made the people standing behind the butcher counter of the Fire Department all snow wolves?
Orcs are not uncommon in Valentine, but few orcs are as terrifying as the Snow Wolf Man! Look at that arm, it's thicker than other people's thighs. If you say something that makes them unhappy, wouldn't a slap in the face be fatal?
The Snow Wolf standing behind the meat stall saw so many people coming up but not buying anything, so he took the initiative to greet them: "Do you want to buy meat? Meat strips are delicious, minced meat is cheaper than meat strips, and there is also delicious and hot bone soup!"
The crowd looked at each other in bewilderment, and many of them shifted their sights to the big pot next to the butcher block... The boiling broth in the pot and the aroma coming out of it were indeed very tempting, and many people stood there just for the soup; but if they really wanted to buy it... Really, those two snow werewolves looked too scary!
Nanfeng, the 22-year-old cub of the same age as Xiao Yun, couldn't sit still and took the initiative to come and help the grassroots tribe leader. Well... although they are the same age, he is twice as strong as Xiao Yun overall...
Nanfeng, who had been doing business in the Elf Port for several years, was much more flexible than his other friend. Seeing that many people were staring at the soup pot, he asked his friend holding the spoon to exchange with him. He walked to the back of the soup pot, picked up the spoon, and scooped up a full spoonful of soup: "Come and buy it. You can buy three spoonfuls of this full bone and meat soup for one copper coin! It's full of salt and ginger, as well as star anise and fennel. It's full of fragrance and meat flavor. It tastes better when you drink it than when you smell it!"
The crowd of onlookers made gurgling sounds of saliva being swallowed, but still no one came forward. They just watched the workers from the wool spinning mill and MSG factory squeeze into the crowd, some paid for meat, and some took out their own pots and bowls to fill soup...
Mr. and Mrs. Miles sat in a corner of the store and watched the orcs do their business in silence.
The few humans working in the store were all residents of South City. In addition, the Snow Wolf Man (the grass-roots chief) who came to sign the contract yesterday was very friendly and left a good impression on them. After they got used to the overly strong physique of Nanfeng and the other Snow Wolf Man for a while, they were no longer so nervous.
"We haven't eaten anything today. How about buying some broth from them to soak up the bread?" Mrs. Miles swallowed and whispered to her husband.
Mr. Miles' stomach had been growling for a long time, and his eyes had been drifting towards the soup pot. However, the people who had bought things from the Snow Wolf Man so far were all those who worked for them, so Miles didn't dare to take the lead. He lowered his voice and said to his wife, "Wait a little longer, Jennifer, wait a little longer."
Mrs. Miles was somewhat dissatisfied and muttered something quietly, but she did not force her husband... Nanfeng and the other snow werewolf were really too strong, and their faces were not kind as the snow werewolf who came yesterday.
"Hey... I was wondering why it's so busy out front... Mrs. Miles, is your hotel closed?"
A prostitute with cheap makeup still on her face came in from the back. She was startled by the bustle in the store and carefully moved closer to the Miles couple hiding in the corner.
"It's still there. We just rented it to them for business during the day." Mrs. Miles explained softly, "Don't go near them casually. Go out the back door later. These snow werewolves are the ones who killed the Thieves Brotherhood two years ago. Do you remember them?"
You Ying nodded fearfully and prepared to leave through the back door.
At this moment, Winnie, a female worker at the woolen mill, squeezed into the crowd with a pot in her hand and called out to Nanfeng behind the pot: "Hey, Nanfeng, give me some soup."
"Okay, Winnie!" Nanfeng borrowed the pot and quickly filled it with soup. "Are three spoonfuls enough?"
"Give me three copper coins, fill it up. I have guests at home, and all the relatives from the countryside are here." Winnie smiled, "Give me five pieces of meat sticks, too."
Another werewolf used the prepared straw rope to string the meat, and Nanfeng also filled a pot with soup. Winnie paid the bill and said to Nanfeng, "Are you going back to the dock tonight? If it's convenient, you can stay at my house overnight. Nanfeng, I'll help you comb your fur."
"Okay, I'll come!" Nanfeng was happy.
"Remember to come!" Winnie reminded and left with the pot.
Youying, who had not yet left through the back door, stared at Winnie's back in amazement, and looked at Mrs. Miles in disbelief: "Isn't that Winnie?"
"Yes." Mrs. Miles nodded, a little sourly, "She spent half a silver coin without blinking an eye. That's right, I don't know how many silver coins her beautiful dress cost, so this little money is nothing... She used to be a street person, but now she looks like a lady from somewhere."
Miles secretly pulled his wife's loincloth: "Please keep your voice down."
"What did I say wrong? We've all seen what Winnie was like when she was living under the fraternity." Mrs. Miles was not convinced, and her voice became even softer.
Youying stared blankly ahead... She, like Winnie and Maggie, had once been controlled by the Brotherhood of Thieves, but at that time Maggie's mother Shelda only remembered to take away her own daughter and people like Winnie who were more friendly with them.
"She's doing really well..." the young girl whispered, with envy in her eyes, "Will Maggie, who didn't come back, be doing better than Winnie?"
Mrs. Miles rolled her eyes, approached the prostitute, and said hurriedly, "Come to think of it, you seemed to have a good relationship with Winnie and the others in the past?"
You Ying nodded reluctantly, then shook her head: "In the beginning, we did interact with each other, but after being assigned to different brothels, we saw each other less often."
"At least you know them. We are not like us who can't talk to them at all." Mrs. Miles said eagerly, "Last year they were guarded by those adventurers and we had no chance to meet them. Now there are not so many things to do, so you should go and chat with Winnie and the others and ask about their recent situation. After all, you are sisters!"
You Ying didn't say anything, but subconsciously clutched her skirt tightly, which had the patch barely covered up with a piece of cloth of the same color... Without the commission from the Brotherhood of Thieves, the flesh trade wouldn't be much better. A young girl like her, You Ying, could barely earn a dozen silver coins a month, but... how many years could she make this living?
Thinking of the thrilling incident two years ago, You Ying couldn't help but feel a little regretful... If she had known earlier that she should have interacted more with Maggie, maybe Maggie's mother Shelda would have remembered her name at that time.
Mr. Miles ignored his wife's little plan, his eyes following Sam who was standing outside soliciting customers.
After the shop specialized in the business of prostitutes, he sent his son to the countryside to learn carpentry. Now, seeing Sam's temperament changed greatly in just two years, his mind also became active.
"Why didn't you be brave enough to let your son go with you two years ago? He was 19 years old at that time... Oh, I guess I was influenced by the old owner of the grocery store next door. The old neighbor reacted so strongly by locking up his son, I also thought it was some kind of dangerous place."
Mr. Miles was thinking about this and sighed softly... The Snow Werewolves do look scary, but in fact they didn't do anything to other people. Instead, they defeated the Brotherhood that made everyone's life difficult and reduced the amount of protection fees that everyone had to pay - why was he so obsessed at that time and thought that the Snow Werewolves had bad intentions!
On the grassland, in the dormitory for female workers of the Fire Tribe.
"You're wrong, Maggie!" Sheldon, who was being worried about, slapped her daughter Maggie's hand in dissatisfaction. "You can't just pile it up like this. You have to stack it layer by layer and slowly poke it with a needle. Only in this way can you create a rich sense of layering. Look, the river you poked doesn't look like a river at all."
Dahe, who was lying on the kang, wagging his tail and enjoying the combing of his hair, looked over lazily and said, "Not bad, Sheldah, you look a lot like me."
"No, no, no, Dahe, we can't let them improve their skills if we spoil them too much." Sheldon shook her head repeatedly and handed the half-finished felt wolf statue made by her daughter to Dahe. "Look, I put a lot of effort into the wolf face, but I just messed around with the body. It ruined your divine horse."
"Will it?" Da He looked around but still didn't think there was anything wrong. "It's okay. After all, these are handicrafts sold in bulk to St. Brigid's. It's OK as long as others can't see anything wrong."
"It's okay if it belongs to others, but this is your felt statue, Dahao. We can't be careless." Shelda said seriously.
"Yes, how can we treat Dahe's felt statue casually?" The female workers around nodded in agreement.
Da He narrowed his eyes, enjoying the feeling of being the center of attention...
Qiu was relatively light, so she lay on the kang to be combed. Seeing the enthusiastic attitude of the female workers surrounding Dahe, they were both angry and amused: "Since Dahe's felt statue is so troublesome, do less and do more for others. There are only so few people, don't mess around."
"It's okay, Qiuqiu. We will work late and make sure we don't miss anything." The female workers laughed.
Qiu was even more at a loss for words and glared at Daha in annoyance.
Carlisle mentioned in a letter that he wanted to sell handicrafts made from the wolf hair combed down by the Snow Wolf Tribe. The southern countries were infested with mosquitoes. When Carlisle came to the grassland, he saw with his own eyes that mosquitoes avoided the Snow Wolf Tribe, so he came up with the idea...
After reading Carlisle's letter, Xiao Yun curiously went to the female workers' dormitory to observe for two days, and was shocked to find that the tribe's fur really had a magical mosquito repellent effect - he himself was a Snow Wolf, so of course he didn't feel it, and Thrall, who had lived with the Snow Wolf before, was not as keen on combing the Snow Wolf's fur as the female workers... He was even cautious and kept a distance from the Snow Wolf!
If you don't make money, you are not a wolf. Xiao Yun immediately rejected the idea of mosquito repellent bags and asked the female workers to learn how to make wolf felt - it looks good and the price is doubled!
